Fish Soup with Sichuan Peppercorns

Whether a soup person or not (like me), you cannot say no to this extremely flavourful Fish Soup with Sichuan Peppercorns.While I am not a huge soup person, but half a decade in Hong Kong has made me somewhat of a convert and we do soups at home once in a while but me being me, I absolutely need to put an Indian twist to it. For example this one pot yumminess was seasoned generously with garlic, tomatoes and lots of fresh coriander, simmered with basa fillets, bok choy and black chickpeas in stock for a good 40 minutes. Vegetarians could swap fish with tofu or cauliflower and it would just taste as good.

The kids ate it with a side of plain sticky rice and the adults as is. Perfect light weekday dinner before we binged endlessly through the weekend. And I cannot recommend it enough for cold and flu days, the pepper is just so amazing to help clear the phlegm. You could use any white fish and it would taste as good. Here is the recipe for you to try:

Chinese greens of your choice (Bok Choy works best in soups), cleaned-6-8 stocks

Sichuan Peppercorns- 2 teaspoons or as per taste

Black pepper-1/4 teaspoon

Salt-1.5 teaspoon or to taste

Water-2 cups

Oil-1 teaspoon

Instructions

Marinate the fillets with ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns and ½ teaspoon salt for 45 minutes. For best results rub the peppercorns on the fillets. You can skip this step if the kids cannot handle the heat

Heat a deep heavy bottomed pan and add 1-teaspoon oil. Once the oil is hot, add chopped garlic and black pepper, stir for a minute, making sure it doesn’t get burnt, then add tomato

Mix well for a minute, then add the marinated fish fillets, chopped coriander,1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns

Stir in the water and bring the mixture to a boil on high heat

Reduce the flame to low, cover and let it simmer for at least thirty minute

In the last five minutes, add bok choy or greens of your choice, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes